You guys have probably forgotten what it's like, but it's so nice being a new rider. I can ride anything without any preconceived notions of how it's supposed to be and head down the road grinning from ear to ear.

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Exactly. If 100,000 adv bikes are sold, how many will ever see more than the occasional dirt road? A couple days ago a friend of mine on his GS was scolded because he took all his riding buddies down a road that got their adv bikes dirty.

They're selling a lifestyle, like the Shadow wants to be a Harley, cashing in on what BMW pretty much created, the Adv lifestyle. Personally, I thought they should have brought the Transalp back to the USA to go up against the vstrom and such, I have yet to figure that one out since the bike has been sold in Europe for decades.

What's the wheel size of those Buels that are ridden on the road enduros? 17"?

The XR650L is shit. Sorry. I bought one when the first came out and farkeled & modded the shit out of it. It was never a good dirtbike & on-road it was beyond horrible.

The KLR has been some weird magical combination. Even when Kaw got ambitious & tried to update it with the KLX (a bike, that on paper should have been a lot better) they failed. It is one of those things in that the sum is way better than its parts would lead you to think is possible.

Honda could have made a killer DP out of the BRP & I thought the Transalp was really cool (I rode a friends and thought it was really neat) The Africa twin should have been here and it would have been cool to have the old XLV750R stateside. Honda has had the machines, but the US market was too small/fragmented.

The ADV market in America is small, it is growing, but small. Remember the first few years of the KLR only sold about 500 units per year in the US. When that bike peaked 05-06 it was still under 6,000 units per year.

What's the wheel size of those Buels that are ridden on the road enduros? 17"?

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It was my experience on a Buell (with a 17" front wheel) that has lead me to believe that an adventure bike needs a 19 or 21 inch front. This new Honda is a 500cc bike... It's not made to compete with 'big adventure bikes'. It could've been made to fill a niche in between the more dirt oriented DR/XR 650 and the more street oriented Vstrom/650GS. I really think it could've been a true KLR competitor... that kind of wierd niche between more road, and more off-road worthy. Some people want a twin over a thumper, the new tech could put the performance comparable despite the cc disadvantage... 6 speeds, fuel injection, cheap... all great things. Unfortunately they threw that 17" front on there that screams (to me) IT'S NOT REALLY CAPABLE OFF ROAD!!! It'll cater towards road only folks, but they make 3 versions of this exact bike... do they all need to cater towards road only folks?

I agree with you that it's a status thing with this bike; it's not a real adventure bike, that's why I was disappointed.

You guys have probably forgotten what it's like, but it's so nice being a new rider. I can ride anything without any preconceived notions of how it's supposed to be and head down the road grinning from ear to ear.

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Actually, that's exactly how I am in real life. Both my current bikes I bought without a test ride. They're motorcycles... I'm going to enjoy them... I'll ride with folks on any other make/model bike... and if we get a chance to trade, I'm all for it... doesn't even matter what you ride.

But on the internet I've come to bitch about stuff more than I ever have before. It must be pretty bad if I'm noticing it myself. I got in a pissing match with someone over in Thumpers yesterday out of sheer boredom. Not sure what my problem is lately... I think, since I've recently shaken my hardcore fan-boy status and am trying to remain open to all now, other fan-boy types (not personal, no one here) just rub me the wrong way, and I always want to play devils advocate just to erk them.

You guys have probably forgotten what it's like, but it's so nice being a new rider. I can ride anything without any preconceived notions of how it's supposed to be and head down the road grinning from ear to ear.

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I'm like that, too. I just started riding last year on the KLR650, got my official M endorsement this spring. I noticed after a few put downs it was kind of a pain to pick up the heavy KLR up. Ended up buying a WRR a couple months ago just based on talking with an owner or 2 and reading some reviews. Rode it up to a Adv/road enduro & tried it out. I got a lot of strange looks when I said I rode to the ride & planned riding back home. I guess I'm not smart enough to know you shouldn't ride 400+ mile/12 hr days on a 250. I'm just enjoying it and don't really give a shit what anyone else thinks.

BTW I'll likely put a 100-200 miles in the SE corner together this weekend, if anyone wants to join. The weather looks fantastic. I really like gravel.

I could be up for a gravel road tour this weekend. What day are you thinking?

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Sunday weather looks a little better. Probably go for a 10 mile trail run Sat morning, so that would put me out near noon. Sunday does seem to be better.

Pretty open to meet up spots, I was looking around some Noble Co stuff last Saturday. I know a kind of cool route from Marietta to Woodsfield & back. I can just kind of go with the flow. I'll have the WRR so 75-80mph is about max.

Sunday weather looks a little better. Probably go for a 10 mile trail run Sat morning, so that would put me out near noon. Sunday does seem to be better.

Pretty open to meet up spots, I was looking around some Noble Co stuff last Saturday. I know a kind of cool route from Marietta to Woodsfield & back. I can just kind of go with the flow. I'll have the WRR so 75-80mph is about max.

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Sunday is fine by me. I can meet you somewhere in the Marietta area if you want to do the Woodsfield route. I'm not a speed demon so the 75-80 max speed should be fine . I'm located just south of Crooksville for reference.

Sunday is fine by me. I can meet you somewhere in the Marietta area if you want to do the Woodsfield route. I'm not a speed demon so the 75-80 max speed should be fine . I'm located just south of Crooksville for reference.

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Well sometimes 90 feels good on a short section of 26. Whatcha riding so the route can be tailored accordingly? I put a GS in a place he didn't want to be earlier this year. Don't want to make that mistake again.

Well sometimes 90 feels good on a short section of 26. Whatcha riding so the route can be tailored accordingly? I put a GS in a place he didn't want to be earlier this year. Don't want to make that mistake again.